How to Convince My Parents to Let Me Build a Gaming PC

[AgentLOL]

I HAVE THIS QUESTIONS SOLVED, BUT I HAVE LEFT THIS THREAD OPEN IF ANYONE WANTS TO FREELY COMMENT OR TALK ABOUT SOMETHING



So, I'm 13, and its nearing my birthday. Right now I'm using a Mid-2012 Macbook Air to game, really only play Minecraft at 60FPS, and that's the only game cause' my parents think gaming is a huge time buster, leaving me with no console, except for the Wii with Mario games. That's my intro.

So, I first wanted to get a pre-built PC. Seeing how pricy they were, thought of building my own PC. Yearning to actually play other video games (my parents don't approve of violent video games sadly), I put together this really good PC for about $1,400, without peripherals. (Don't ask if they really have the money for that, cause my dad uses a giant iMac). So, I approach them ask my dad (he usually manages everything with electronics). He says that you will only save $50 by building, I won't let you build one, but rather purchase one, as it takes forever. They said that a $800 computer is good enough for school work. I explain that I want these components, and my dad realizes its for gaming.

So that pretty much ended the argument with a NO, and since then, been trying to convince him. I just don't know what's the right time to ask my dad. He owns a office and said that he would grab one from his office that's new, and left to go to the mall. Man, he just won't understand. While everyone else (my friends) sit back and play on their supercomputers and Xbox Ones, I get to sit here playing just Minecraft on my horrible laptop. With that being said, hopefully you read this all and give me a suggestion, and thanks for reading!

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/B4T9yc

 

[turkey3_scratch]

My dad believes building a PC is merely gluing pieces of a computer in a case and calling it good.

Well, it actually is called a giant Lego sometimes. I think they may be concerned about the safety of you building a computer to be honest. There is honestly nothing to worry about unless you like to strap power supplies to your face and turn them on.

 

[AgentLOL]

LOL. That sounds like something deadly/fun. Strapping electricity around you face. He believes you learn nothing from gluing. I feel like he should know what's inside a PC and how you actually assemble one. It's pretty much a ROBOT! Immovable, but still a robot. It's got a brain. It's got power. It's a robot. And a giant lego does make me happy, as I've enjoyed legos, even though I've gotten barely any sets.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

LOL. That sounds like something deadly/fun. Strapping electricity around you face. He believes you learn nothing from gluing. I feel like he should know what's inside a PC and how you actually assemble one. It's pretty much a ROBOT! Immovable, but still a robot. It's got a brain. It's got power. It's a robot. And a giant lego does make me happy, as I've enjoyed legos, even though I've gotten barely any sets.

Does not have a brain.

Anyways, does he know much at all about computers to be making that "glue" judgement? Does he realize that computers are undoubtedly the most complex machines? So many intelligent geniouses put their effort into them for a whole century.

 

[AgentLOL]

I mean, he's owns a company that uses technology and PC's. I would think that he'd know, Or maybe he knows so much that he thinks it's really basic. But then he thinking it's basic counters the fact that he doesn't want to do it. This is really strange.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

I mean, he's owns a company that uses technology and PC's. I would think that he'd know, Or maybe he knows so much that he thinks it's really basic. But then he thinking it's basic counters the fact that he doesn't want to do it. This is really strange.

I don't know what options are left for you. Does he know you are here on Tomshardware? You should have him private message me so I can tell him directly why I think it's a good idea.

 

[RazerZ]

When they see multiple B's, all they think of is "Hey, why do you have a B? As long as you have that B, you won't get a thing!" Last year, I made it all A's with the exception of English throughout the whole semester, until the final one, where i got 2 B's! They still wouldn't do a thing. I mean, that's just plain rude in my perspective. How would you like to be put through this!

I made mostly A's throughout high school and didn't expect a thing. I had to save my own money to purchase a gaming computer. I didn't get anything from my parents. They're not being rude, they really don't need to reward you for making good grades. In my eyes that's your responsibility. They already do enough for you.

And the job I found was fixing hundreds of lego robotics motors at a grand total of $2/motor. Life can be tough, deal with it.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

^^ Though I do agree with that, you at least need to put half the money in.

 

[tiny voices]

Sometimes parents just don't want to let you do something. There isn't much bargaining left at that point. I had this same thing happen with my first car. My parents said they would match whatever money I could put up. I put up $4000 and said I was going to buy a turbo 300zx. Like responsible parents they said no. So I put up $2000 and bought a $4000 Honda prelude. Much more responsible for a 17 year old kid.

It seems your parents have an issue with gaming. If you got a budget computer ($299 i3 prebuilt) this would show responsibility as it does not play games, except minecraft. They might be ok with this. You could then save up some money and add your own GPU (gtx750 as it will run on the stock PSU). This would also show responsibility because you are waiting for the upgrade that will allow you to play games. They might be OK with this.

Whatever you do, DO NOT get the prebuilt and then upgrade it behind your parents backs. This is the mistake I made with my car. I used the extra $2000 I had to turbo the prelude. It made 370hp, which in a light car, is more than any 17yo kid should have. I do not regret turboing the car, but I regret not using my new power responsibly, and it almost cost me my life.

Harness the will power I wish I had when I was a kid, and if/when you do have a computer capable of playing games, use it in moderation. This will show your parents that it was a fine decision to get you a PC and you have demonstrated responsibility. It could even lead to them giving you more freedoms in the future as they now know you are responsible.

If not, you risk them taking it away.


USAFRet, I do not know how old your kids are, but when it comes time for cars, PLEASE do not let them have anything exceptionally fast as a first car. I LOVE cars. They are my passion. I have owned/modified many and I am only 22. My current car is VERY modified. But please, at 16/17yo you are NOT responsible enough for a fast car. I was always a VERY responsible kid. Never did I do my parents wrong and never even fought with them, but all it took was ONE time letting the "Tom has the fastest car at any highschool in the county" comment get to my head and I almost died. I just isn't worth it.

 

[USAFRet]

I feel like he should know what's inside a PC and how you actually assemble one.

No, not even a little bit.
To him, a PC is a tool. Used to arrive at a particular end point.

Just like a car. For someone into it....swapping engines or cams or changing the torque curve in the chip is fun.
For other people...its a vehicle that gets me from home to work.

 

[USAFRet]

USAFRet, I do not know how old your kids are, but when it comes time for cars, PLEASE do not let them have anything exceptionally fast as a first car. I LOVE cars. They are my passion. I have owned/modified many and I am only 22. My current car is VERY modified. But please, at 16/17yo you are NOT responsible enough for a fast car. I was always a VERY responsible kid. Never did I do my parents wrong and never even fought with them, but all it took was ONE time letting the "Tom has the fastest car at any highschool in the county" comment get to my head and I almost died. I just isn't worth it.

My youngest is mid-20's. We've already gone through the crashes, etc....🙁
No modded vehicles, as I did starting at age 11 with a minibike.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

@tiny voices: Ooh now I'm interested in turbo XD

 

[tiny voices]

You have ALOT to learn. TO do even a VERY simple turbo setup on a basic honda motor it costs thousands of dollars and TONS of hours of work. It is not for someone who has little knowledge of cars and is NOT a good "first mod". The car will be incredibly unreliable and need constant attention.

 

[AgentLOL]

For me, I like cars. Not those play toy cars, but actual real sport cars. Of course I don't expect to get one as my first car. And as a 13 year, you can't really get a job. What I'm looking at is programming apps for IOS through Xcode made by Apple. That could potentially make my dad really happy and give me money. Something simple like flappy bird. I mean, I'm not sure how that game made him rich for life, I guess addictiveness.

For me, a PC is a piece of amazing electronic architecture that creates something very vivid and amazing, and preferably powerful too. No brain? CPU/Motherboard is reffered to as the brain. It has a control center. Acts just like our nervous system.

 

[AgentLOL]

I'm liking all the support you guys are giving me. Never expected this much feedback. Tomshardware is more lively that I thought it was.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

You have ALOT to learn. TO do even a VERY simple turbo setup on a basic honda motor it costs thousands of dollars and TONS of hours of work. It is not for someone who has little knowledge of cars and is NOT a good "first mod". The car will be incredibly unreliable and need constant attention.

I know I'm just kidding 😛 funny though I have a Honda

 

[USAFRet]

What I'm looking at is programming apps for IOS through Xcode made by Apple. That could potentially make my dad really happy and give me money. Something simple like flappy bird. I mean, I'm not sure how that game made him rich for life, I guess addictiveness.

The 1st iteration of game Angry Birds took a team of 30 people (on and off), already experienced in mobile development, a year to make.

It ain't simple to make a good game.

 

[tiny voices]

My youngest is mid-20's. We've already gone through the crashes, etc....🙁
No modded vehicles, as I did starting at age 11 with a minibike.

I love my cars, but as a parent I know it will be hard if my kid(s) are into them too. Not that I don't want them to like cars, but just knowing how I was as a teenager, and how teenagers are with "neat toys" is scary.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

For me, I like cars. Not those play toy cars, but actual real sport cars. Of course I don't expect to get one as my first car. And as a 13 year, you can't really get a job. What I'm looking at is programming apps for IOS through Xcode made by Apple. That could potentially make my dad really happy and give me money. Something simple like flappy bird. I mean, I'm not sure how that game made him rich for life, I guess addictiveness.

For me, a PC is a piece of amazing electronic architecture that creates something very vivid and amazing, and preferably powerful too. No brain? CPU/Motherboard is reffered to as the brain. It has a control center. Acts just like our nervous system.

By no brain I meant a computer cannot think. One of the things I will always remember from a computer class years ago is "A computer is a stupid machine. It only does what it's told".

 

[AgentLOL]

Yeah, angry birds is pretty complex, if you look at the amount of levels. I'm not going for something that crazy. Something simple.

 

[AgentLOL]

What do you think? Should I close the thread? I mean, we kind of discussed all the possible solutions. This is more like a discussion board.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Yeah, angry birds is pretty complex, if you look at the amount of levels. I'm not going for something that crazy. Something simple.

Jumping into the Swift programming language just to convince your parents is probably not a good idea. Do programming as a passion rather than a way to convince your parents. BTW if you ever want to make a fun 2D game in a non text-coding environment check out http://scratch.mit.edu which has an online editor. It's fun to use, and made by MIT.

 

[USAFRet]

My youngest is mid-20's. We've already gone through the crashes, etc....🙁
No modded vehicles, as I did starting at age 11 with a minibike.

I love my cars, but as a parent I know it will be hard if my kid(s) are into them too. Not that I don't want them to like cars, but just knowing how I was as a teenager, and how teenagers are with "neat toys" is scary.

I should have taken as an omen when my daughter (age 12?) drove her little brothers RC car into the ocean on a beach vacation.
Dead RC car...🙁
Things did not get better after that.

 

[AgentLOL]

I'm not coding to convince. I actually want to do it. Looks interesting, and I know one guy from my elementary make a game pretty simple. You have a person sledding and you try to make him avoid the obstacles as much as possible.

 

[AgentLOL]

I don't really like the simple little coding environments. Look a little weird to me.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

I'm not coding to convince. I actually want to do it. Looks interesting, and I know one guy from my elementary make a game pretty simple. You have a person sledding and you try to make him avoid the obstacles as much as possible.

Glad you're interested in coding! I do it every day (web design is my specialty).